Wesleyan men’s tennis took a week off from team play to participate in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Regional Tournament this past weekend. Co-captain Jeff Legunn ’13, Donovan Suh ’15, Stephen Monk ’15, and Ben Hudson ’15 all made the trek up to Williamstown, Mass., to represent the Cardinals on the home courts of the rival Williams Ephs, who hosted the tournament. Facing some of the best players in the nation, the Cardinal men were stymied by the stiff competition, but return home with added experience that will serve to benefit a squad defined by its youth.
Legunn, who has occupied the number one seed in Wesleyan singles play in every match in which he has appeared, lost in the opening round of the ITA Regional for the first time. Ranked as one of the top 16 players in the tournament, Legunn fell to unranked Nico Fenichell of Bowdoin (6-1, 6-1), which came as a surprise after he had advanced past his first match in his freshman year and to the round of 16 last year.
Monk had more luck in his first ITA Regional, defeating Brandon Roode of Nichols College (6-2, 6-3) before losing to Will Petrie of Williams (6-2, 6-2). Petrie also faced Suh in their opening round match, which Petrie took by a score of 6-3, 6-2. On the doubles side, Monk and Hudson reprised their role as Wesleyan’s top-seeded doubles pairing in each match they have appeared in together, only to fall 8-3 to Brandeis’ team of Milo and Yovanoff.
The rough outcome for the Cardinal men comes with the silver lining of the boost of facing such a high-level opponent, as Wesleyan has won the match immediately following the ITA Regional in each of the past three years, two of which were 9-0 shutouts. This bodes well for the Cardinals next weekend, as Wesleyan will look to bounce back from two tough weekends at Williams, between a 1-8 loss to the Ephs on Sept. 17 and this most recent outcome. The Cardinal men will be looking to turn it around against College of the Holy Cross on Oct. 1 and Roger Williams University on Oct. 2, each on the Wood Memorial Courts.